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TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 begins tomorrow at 8 a.m. PT and runs through three days at San Francisco's Moscone West, with over 10,000 founders, investors and tech operators expected to attend. Organizers say this is the last day to buy tickets at a discount of up to $100, with additional offers including 50% off a second pass and a $75 Expo+ Pass for people who have been laid off.
Amazon is reportedly negotiating to acquire Decart, a San Francisco-based AI startup, in a deal valued at roughly $7 billion. Decart builds software that helps developers switch between different AI chips, according to the report.
An Entrepreneur contributor argues that startups most often waste money not through bad hires or launches but by building products without real validation of customer demand. The piece lays out five principles for product teams, starting with treating internal processes like a product to be prototyped and tested with a small cross-functional group before scaling up.
Startup Efferon has developed a blood-purification device called Efferon NEO that absorbs both endotoxins and cytokines to treat pediatric sepsis, which kills about 3 million children under five each year. The device received CE mark approval in April, making it the first multimodal blood purification device built specifically for children, and is now used in ICUs across 30 countries including parts of Europe, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand. Efferon is preparing an FDA submission and expects to reach $2 million in annualized revenue by the end of 2026.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 begins on October 13 at 8 a.m. PT at Moscone West in San Francisco, featuring more than 300 startups in the Expo Hall and 20 Startup Battlefield 200 finalists competing for a $100,000 prize and the Disrupt Cup. The event will also host over 200 sessions with more than 250 tech leaders discussing AI, fundraising, go-to-market strategy, and scaling. Attendees can still save up to $100 on passes, with discounts for groups and a 50% off second ticket offer.
Flock Safety, maker of AI-powered surveillance cameras and license-plate readers used by police departments, is reportedly cutting several hundred jobs, according to people familiar with the matter. The layoffs come as the company faces mounting criticism over privacy concerns tied to its surveillance technology.
Alongside the main TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 conference running October 13-15 in San Francisco, a range of independently organized side events are scheduled from October 10 through 16. These include national and regional tech meetups hosted by groups like Poland's PAIH, Innovation Norway, and Pakistan's Software Export Board, plus startup workshops and networking sessions.
TechCrunch's Disrupt 2026 conference takes place October 13-15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, expecting around 10,000 attendees including founders, investors and tech executives. Online ticket discounts of up to $100 expire when the event opens at 8 a.m. PT on October 13, with a discounted Expo+ Pass available for those affected by layoffs and a 50%-off second-ticket offer.
Oxide Computer announced a $445 million Series D funding round, saying the company recently became profitable enough to pay income tax on its ordinary hardware sales operations. The company says demand for its systems now exceeds supply, creating a large order backlog that requires significant upfront cash for components and manufacturing before products reach customers.
TechCrunch is accepting volunteer applications for the upcoming Founder Summit in Boston on November 4. Interested individuals must apply by October 19 to secure a role that offers behind-the-scenes access, event tickets, and workshops on startup topics. Volunteers will assist with various event tasks to help ensure a smooth experience for approximately 1,100 attendees.
Oratomic, a quantum computing company, secured $475 million in its Series B funding round, significantly increasing its valuation to $5.4 billion. This comes only three months after its previous funding round, highlighting strong investor confidence in the emerging technology sector.
Sarina Virk Torrendell left a high-six-figure role at Amazon in September 2025, while pregnant with her third child, to found YouPop. The company builds an AI-powered 'intelligence layer' that pulls creators' cross-platform data together to help them decide what content, products or deals to pursue.